How to Play Call Break

Call Break (कल ब्रेक) is the four-player trick-taking game played all over Nepal. Each round you call how many tricks you will win, and your score depends on keeping your word.

Players and cards

Four players each get 13 cards from one standard 52-card deck. The deal passes one seat on each round, and a game is usually five rounds. Spades are always trumps.

Bidding

After looking at their cards, each player calls a number of tricks, from 1 to 13. The calls don't have to add up to 13.

Playing the tricks

• The player after the dealer leads the first trick.
• You must follow the suit that was led. If you can, you must play a higher card than any already in the trick.
• If you can't follow suit, you must play a spade if you have one.
• The highest spade wins the trick, or, with no spade in it, the highest card of the suit led. The winner leads the next trick.

Scoring a round

• Made your call (won at least that many tricks): score your call, plus 0.1 for each extra trick.
• Missed your call: lose your call.

The tricks won always add up to 13. After five rounds, the highest total wins the game. Some tables play a different number of rounds or score extra tricks differently, so agree before you start.

Let the app do the sums

The Call Break score keeper is free and works on any phone. Set everyone's call, then enter the tricks they won: it keeps the totals, shows who deals next and who is leading, in English or Nepali, and works offline once added to your home screen.